Indiana Goes West (Mail Order Brides of Pioneer Town, Book 1) by Ruth Hartzler Read Free Book Online

whom she would have to share
it.
    “Getting back to how things would be on my
ranch,” Morgan said, “we have lots of land, acres and acres.
There’s a beautiful creek down by the house, but it’s mostly just a
nice, peaceful spot where I go to think when the day’s been too
long.”
    “That sounds absolutely stunning,” Montana
said, gasping. “Do you have a rose garden? I’ve always wanted to
start my own, but Mother says playing in the dirt is for servants
and peasants.”
    “Actually, a rose garden is something that we
don’t have. I suppose you could attribute that to my lack of a
woman’s input,” Morgan said, his voice vibrating with laughter.
“But there is a field of wildflowers about half a mile from the
creek I was just talking about. Sometimes the cattle graze out
there, creating the most beautiful setting you will ever see when
the sun sets behind them,” he added.
    In her mind, Indiana was painting the picture
exactly as he described it. She could see the orange hues of the
sun overtaking the pale blues of the evening sky. While cattle were
never of course seen in Nob Hill, the gentle beasts looked like
close friends of hers as they grazed in the grassy knoll of her
thoughts.
    “How remarkable that sounds. Please, tell me
again why all the people run off to Texas instead of Wyoming,”
Deborah said.
    Unable to silence the words before they left
her tongue, Indiana said bravely, “Mother, perhaps they were made to go to Texas. Not everyone gets a choice—at least,
not in my experience.”
    Deborah shot her a furious glare but said
nothing. After the awkward silence settled over the room and
threatened to end the dinner party, the sound of glasses tapping
against each other removed the tension from the room. As she turned
toward the noise, Indiana saw Charles standing with a glass raised
in his hand.
    “I propose a toast. We will be traveling back
to Wyoming once our business here has reached its conclusion, but
at least we were able to spend this delightful evening together,”
he said, making sure to hold eye contact with each of his guests
briefly as his gaze circled the room. “To my nephew, Morgan, and
his friend, Cody. And let us not forget the lovely Mrs. Deborah
White. I want to thank you and your lovely daughters personally for
attending our dinner party and being such gracious guests, as
always.”
    “Of course, Charles,” Deborah said, rising to
contribute words of her own toward the honor. “Here’s to the
future, for Mr. Chase, Mr. Mills, yourself, and my daughters.”
    “And let us not forget the man who couldn’t
join us tonight,” Charles said, his voice breaking as he spoke. “I
am sorry. This toast is in honor of all of us here, but most
importantly, my late friend, your husband.”
    Just then, the chiming of glasses and chatter
rose up around Indiana as she fumbled for her glass so she could
take part in the toast. Charles was talking about her father, and
she had known where it was going from the moment he picked up his
glass. She missed him too, but the mess that his passing left
behind made grieving even more difficult than it already had to
be.
    “Again, thank you all for coming,” Charles
said, as Indiana turned her attention to Morgan.
    He approached her slowly, extending his hand
to help her from her chair. “May I?”
    “Thank you, sir,” she said, her chest
heaving.
    Around them, the others were also preparing
to leave, finishing their beverages and saying goodbye to each
other. In that moment, however, Indiana wanted to focus on nothing
other than Morgan. His strong, alluring charisma was something that
she just could not ignore whenever he was around.
    “Permit me to escort you out,” he asked, his
eyes gleaming.
    “I would be delighted,” Indiana said. “Thank
you kindly.”
    The doors that led out to the streets of San
Francisco sat just a short distance away from the courtyard.
Charles and her mother led the way, most likely locked in